APPLIED PRACTICE IN CONTEXT

BLOG POST 2

WEEK 26

APPLIED PRACTICE IN CONTEXT

We are a school borne out of the earthquakes and we are the result of two schools closing down and opening as a new entity.  Most of the 375 children attending our school have come from one of the two schools that closed. Some staff have come from the two schools and there are a few (including me) that have come from elsewhere.  Our Lady of Fatima and St Paul’s are the two schools that closed and both schools were steeped in a history of their own. Stoll (1998) states that a school’s culture is shaped by its history, context and the people in it and that a school's age can impact cultural change.  I feel fortunate to be a founding member of our new school and to be able to help establish our school culture. 

We are a decile 8 school with a number of cultures represented. I think it is fair to say that the decile 8 would be an indicator of the socio economic status of our school.  Our school is situated in an area in Christchurch that has been specifically designed to have a real cross section of socio economic groups.  We are surrounded by some quite grand homes which are deliberately interspersed with some state housing.  This area of Christchurch has been purposefully designed to attract an eclectic group of people.   Because we are a Catholic school, our area is naturally widened and therefore we are getting students from the new subdivisions in the area, hence the decile 8 being a fair indication. It is interesting to note that we have in excess of 20 preschools feeding our school.   We have a vast majority of students who are of New Zealand European descent and the smaller groups we have represented include New Zealand Maori and Filipino and African among others. 

Building relationships with parents and most importantly children underpin my practice.  As a new entrant teacher I aim to be part of a culture where all children are supported in their transition to school and where children and other teachers in my team feel supported to take risks to achieve our common goal. 

Stoll (1998) suggests that relationships, organisational structure and learning nature are the basis of all culture.  We are working in a collaborative environment and since the beginning of our school opening, we have seen a strengthening of identity as a team and trust as we work together to achieve a common goal.  As we have collaborated we have seen an increase in communication and collegiality and I believe we are now at a point where we can be supportive toward each other to encourage best practice. 

The organisational structure of our school is transparent.  Our senior leadership team are integral in helping to develop our school culture.  They work collaboratively and give extra opportunities for us to work collaboratively as a team to establish working relationships and they are very supportive and caring. 

Our school is divided into four hubs.  Each hub has a unique culture which contributes to the overall culture of our school.

The learning nature of our school has been ever evolving since we opened. We have recently constructed our vision - “Choosing to be an innovative Catholic Learning Community that inspires and empowers learners to succeed.”  The staff were involved in this process and therefore I feel I have a lot more ownership around this.  The building of our vision continues to include the wider school community including our Parish and families as we are all collectively responsible in achieving this.

One of the issues we have in our community of practice is the fact that our vision is still so new and we need to embed it into our school over time.  We need to make it a part of our everyday life.

Because we are such a new school, I think we are on a journey of developing our school culture and we have to continue to tread carefully and be ever mindful of the reason we came to be.  This will be, at times, challenging I am sure, but exciting too.

REFERENCES

Stoll. (1998). School Culture. School Improvement Network’s Bulletin 9. Institute of Education, University of London. Retrieved from http://www.educationalleaders.govt.nz/Culture/Understanding-school-cultures/School-Culture